


weak knees

by samssalvation



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, honestly idk what to tag this, it's just a short little piece where frank makes a promise we know he gets to keep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-01 23:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6541459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samssalvation/pseuds/samssalvation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: karen tripping and falling into frank's arms</p>
            </blockquote>





	weak knees

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally posted on tumblr, but i'm posting it here too! (that's why it's so wee).

_Do you believe me now?_

The words thundered in Karen’s ears, louder than the gunshots that were still ringing in her mind and her racing heart. Her feet carried her down the hall, away from her apartment and the unconscious policemen sprawled in front of it. Frank’s shadow slipped from the wall to become a physical reality beside her, a hand hovering behind her back in case she slowed. It wasn’t necessary - Karen knew how to survive, better than Frank thought, better than anybody else knew. Even as her thoughts whirled, her steps were sure.

Frank moved ahead, just far enough to turn the corner and push open the door to the stairs that he somehow already knew were there. A small, quiet voice at the back of Karen’s skull whispered, _he’s been here before_ , but the thought was fleeting and somehow unsurprising at the same time.

“Come on,” he said, reaching for her, hand going around her arm and pulling her after him. The heavy door fell shut. A yellow light filled the stairwell. Karen suddenly couldn’t move.

Frank tried to tug her along, but seeing her face, he stopped. Instead, he relinquished his grip on her and moved to the banister, looking down, scanning, listening. After a second, he came back to her. His big hands twitched at his sides for a moment - Karen could only look at them, trying to catch her breath - before he lifted them to her face, tilting it to the light. His fingertips were rough, but his touch was soft, clinically pushing the hair back from her face and looking for injuries.

Karen’s eyes worked their way up from the fastenings on his jacket to the scratches on his neck to the bruises under his eyes. She hadn’t been this rattled in a long time, but it was the end of a very, _very_ long day, and a man she thought she’d never see again had his hands in her hair.

“You hurt?” His voice wasn’t as gruff as it usually was - she noticed that it was never very gruff with her, but it was even softer than that, maybe because he was worried she was falling into shock. She doubted it. That had only happened once before, and she wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“I’m fine,” she said. It came out a shade less confident than she’d hoped. She blinked and tried again. “I’m more upset that I lost my gun.”

Frank’s dark eyes studied her for a moment before a short puff of breath escaped his lips, which Karen decided was laughter. He dropped his hands, but only to her upper arms, as if to hold her steady.

“We need to get you out of here. It’s not safe.”

Karen nodded. “Just give me a second.”

His gaze returned to hers. “So you’re not fine.”

“I _am_ ,” she returned sharply. To prove it, she reached up and pushed his hands away. He took a small step backwards, which didn’t help Karen much, since she knew she had only managed to remove his hold on her because he’d let her. She waved him back again. “Where are we going to go?”

Another puff of breath, another short laugh. “This isn’t a ‘we’ situation. You’re going to the police. I’m going to take you there, and that’s it.”

Karen gaped. “Frank, they’re blaming you for those attacks today. You can prove you’re innocent. You can - ”

“Turn myself in?” Frank interrupted. He shook his head. “That’s not happening.”

“ _Frank_ \- ”

He looked away, and Karen moved forwards, or tried to, meant to, but she had locked her knees without realizing it. She stumbled, toe catching on the ground, and she felt herself begin to fall. A split second later, and instead of colliding with the floor, she fell into Frank, who stepped into her, hands going to her waist automatically and keeping her from sliding on the cement landing. Karen’s forehead pressed into his shoulder, his jacket smelling of gunpowder and gasoline and old brick. Slowly, Frank walked her back, setting her feet back on the ground. She didn’t move.

 _Who was she kidding?_ There was a terror clutching at her heart, one she hadn’t felt in a long time - the feeling of being hunted. And no, it wouldn’t stop her from getting out of there, or getting to the bottom of things, but it lingered like the touch of a cold hand against her breast and she couldn’t shake it.

“Karen.” His chest fell sharply as he said it.

Her mouth worked a moment before she managed to get the words out. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.” They didn’t move. They should have moved, or maybe his hands shouldn’t have been so heavy against her hips or her grip so tight on his arms, but they didn’t move at all, for a while. She stared at his chest, watching it go up and down as he breathed, and the vice seemed to loosen around her lungs.

“I’ll go with you to the police,” she said. Her voice was stronger. “But we need to talk.”

“We’ll talk.”

“Tomorrow. We need to talk tomorrow.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow.”

She finally lifted her head from his shoulder, to fix him with a steady look. He glanced down at her, his face closer than it had ever been. His bruises were black in the yellow light. They shouted at her: murderer; vigilante; a danger to society.

But looking into his eyes, Karen just felt … safe.

Slowly, she pulled back, and Frank’s hands fell back to his sides like he suddenly remembered they were his. She sucked in a deep breath, then tossed her head back and nodded. “Then let’s go to the police.”

There was a glint of teeth, the barest hint of a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
